Anna

Written by Layla Bo Giles

 Scene One: Anna’s House
The film opens on short still shots of Anna’s house, a dripping tap, long
hallway, towels on the bathroom floor.
V/O Anna’s Dad: Hi sweetheart, I won’t be home tonight, I’m working late
again. There should be some food in the fridge for dinner, please make sure you
eat Anna.
Cut to Anna sat at the kitchen table a bowl in front of her, a tracking shot
moves towards her.
You’re a good girl Anna, I love you.
Anna immediately gets up.

Scene Two: College

Anna is walking through college and her best friend Hayley runs up behind her.
Hayley: Hey
Anna: Hey
Hayley: How ya been?
Anna: Good, you?
Hayley: Yeah, pretty good, coming to the library?
Anna: No, I have my careers meeting.
Hayley: Oh God, good luck. I had mine yesterday and you’ll never guess what
I’m going to be when I leave college.
Anna: What’s that?
Hayley: A massage therapist
(Anna laughs)
You should’ve seen Ms Laine’s face, I’ve never seen someone so excited about
massage therapy, I can give you my leaflet about it?
Anna: (laughs) I’m good thanks
Elliot joins the pair and puts his arm around Hayley
Elliot: You do have magic hands
(Hayley giggles and Anna looks on visibly uncomfortable)
Anna: I’m just gonna… I um…I’ll see you around.

Scene Three: Careers meeting

Ms Laine: So… Anna, what do you like to do in your free time?

Anna: I don’t know.
Ms Laine: You don’t know
(Anna shrugs)
Well, what’s the first thing you do when you get home from college?
Cut to a quick 1 second shot of Anna flopping onto her bed
Anna: Coursework.
Ms Laine: Speaking of your course; sociology. That’s interesting. Tell me more
about it.
Anna: Well, we study…
Ms Laine: And you plan to make a career out of that do you? (The mood of the
scene significantly shifts)
Anna: Oh, (weak laugh) no
Ms Laine: Then what do you want?
Anna: I want to be a college careers advisor.
(The feeling in the room sours even further and the pace of the conversation
quickens)
Ms Laine: Do you have a job currently?
Anna: No
Ms Laine: Do you live with your parents?
Anna: Occasionally
Ms Laine: Do you have any employable skills?
Anna: Do you?
Ms Laine: Describe yourself in one word
Anna: Skinny (smirk)
Ms Lane: Where do you see yourself in ten years’ time?
Anna has no answer.
The scene shifts into reality, and restarts. The previous conversation never
actually happened.
Ms Lane: What do you like to do in your free time?
Anna: I’m really interested in massage therapy.
Ms Lane’s face lights up with joy

Scene Four: Jealousy

Anna is buying a drink from the college vending machine and looks over her
shoulder at Hayley and Elliot flirting and her face burns with jealousy. Her
emotions start to boil over and her hearing goes funny, the tension is broken by
a shot of Anna entering her empty house. In the emptiness she finds calm.

Scene Five:
Scene Five follows Anna into a classroom where Hayley is waiting with a small
birthday cake, she rushes to Anna and starts to sing ‘Happy Birthday’.
Hayley: Make a wish!
(Anna Blows out her candle)
Hayley: So, what did you get for your birthday?
Anna: My dad left me a card with some money in it.
Hayley: Left you?
Anna: Yeah um, he had to leave early for work.
Hayley: Of course, he did. Aren’t you going to eat your cake? I got it special.
Anna: Yeah, I was just… talking to you. (Weak laugh)
Anna takes a bite while Hayley rambles on about something completely
different
 Scene Six: Can’t Take my eyes off of you
Scene starts during an English lecture about Hamlet, the board reads ‘To Be or
Not to Be, That Is the Question’. Anna looks distressed like she is about to have
a panic attack, all she can think about is the cake she has just eaten. Her panic
intensifies and her hearing muffles, breathing very heavily. She looks back over
to the board which now reads ‘To Eat or Not to Eat That Is the Question’. Anna
reaches boiling point and rushes towards the classroom door; she walks down
the corridor trying to find somewhere to regulate her breathing. The room she
enters isn’t a classroom but an old-fashioned ballroom with Elliot in the centre,
he pulls Anna into him. The pair dance together.

Scene Seven: I know.

Anna is stood in disbelief, back at college and in reality.
Hayley: Are you coming?
Anna nods
Scene cuts to a field with the two girls, mid-conversation, laying down high.
Hayley: How can something be an aphrodisiac?
Anna: What do you mean?
Hayley: I mean sexual attraction is subjective.
Anna: I think it’s something to do with how we’re wired.
Hayley: Yeah, like something in it speaks to the chemicals in your brain.
Anna: If I could speak to the chemicals in my brain, I’d tell them to cheer the
fuck up.
Hayley’s face flashes with concern
Hayley: Are you sure you’re, okay?
Anna: Promise.
Hayley: I should probably go; my Hamlet essay isn’t gonna write itself.
Hayley gathers her things and goes to walk away.
Anna takes a deep breath
Anna: I like Elliot.
Pause.
Hayley: I know.

Anna collects herself and walks away. Her walk home turns into a dance, she
feels completely free.
Credits.
End.